Queensland's great infrastructure divide between SEQ and the rest

When it comes to splashing cash on infrastructure projects in Queensland, there is a great divide between Brisbane and everywhere else in the state.

A report, commissioned by the Queensland Major Contractors Association and the Infrastructure Association of Queensland, reveals 194 projects, worth $41.3 billion, are in the pipeline over the next five years.

Large transport projects, such as Cross River Rail and Inland Rail, underpin activity in the more densely populated south-east corner, and are fully-funded.Credit:Ryan Stuart

Of those, $13.8 billion is unfunded, mostly in regional Queensland, causing uncertainty in those communities struggling the most.

The report shows major projects in Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast, Ipswich, Toowoomba and Logan accounted for $13.2 billion, or 48 per cent of total funded major project work.

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Unfunded projects were more concentrated in the central and northern regions of the state.

Two-thirds of the major project pipeline in the outback region remained unfunded, along with 68 per cent in Townsville, 51 per cent in Cairns and 47 per cent in both the Wide Bay and Mackay regions.

In contrast, 100 per cent of projects in the Greater Brisbane area were listed as funded.

Adrian Hart, from report author BIS Oxford Economics, said the higher proportion of unfunded projects in the regions was a big challenge.

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"That increases uncertainty in the regions about when and what time and by how much activity might change," he said.

"You go to Townsville, for instance, we only have in the pipeline 32 per cent of projects that are listed in our pipeline as being funded.

"So it's a very big difference between the regions as to the certainty of projects proceeding let alone the size of the pipeline."

The issue also boiled down to public versus private.

More than 82 per cent of public projects, valued at $23.4 billion, were funded over the next five years, compared with 46 per cent in the private sector.

Queensland Major Contractors Association chief executive Jon Davies said governments were swaying the figures in the funding divide between public and private, south-east Queensland and the regions.

"A lot of the funded projects in south-east Queensland are government projects," he said.

"The issue is, regionally, those unfunded projects are largely in the private sector.

"Whereas governments can, if they put their mind to it, find additional funds, find funds to fund projects, the private sector look at their investment decisions differently and take into account a range of other factors such as red and green tape, approvals and the like, and that is potentially what is holding back some of those projects regionally."